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TOMY Pocketmate games

Photo(s) by Buro Destruct. Imported from Flickr on Feb 12, 2023. Artwork published in
circa 1975
.
Poke Pachi (Time Trap, Pocket Pachinko) ft.  and
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Buro Destruct and tagged with “marvin” and “futura”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Poke Pachi (Time Trap, Pocket Pachinko) ft. Marvin and Grotesque No. 9

TOMY Pocketmate is a series of mechanical games made for the pocket. They were produced by TOMY Japan between 1975 and 1984, before the success of electronic games such as Game & Watch by Nintendo.

More than 70 games were published worldwide, under different names and appearances. They were known as Pocketmates in Japan, as Pocket Games in the US, and as Pocketeers in the UK.

Lopetz of Büro Destruct is currently designing and editing a book about these toys. In case you are interested in the publication, please get in touch with him. And head over to Flickr to see his little collection of the most cleverly designed Pocketmates.

Shown here is a selection of games with interesting typography. Many of the display typefaces were available from Letraset. The Tomy Pocketmate name and the labels like “Start”, “Goal” etc. are typically in all-caps Futura.

Space Athletic (Moon Shot) ft.
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Buro Destruct and tagged with “data70” and “futura”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Space Athletic (Moon Shot) ft. Data 70

Catch a Caterpillar ft.  and . The top line appears to use Yagi Link Double’s inline.
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Buro Destruct and tagged with “yagilinkdouble”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Catch a Caterpillar ft. Yagi Link Double and ITC Avant Garde Gothic. The top line appears to use Yagi Link Double’s inline.

Galaxian (Star Shooter) ft.  and , with a customized N
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by  Buro Destruct and tagged with “microgramma” and “futuradisplay”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Galaxian (Star Shooter) ft. Microgramma and Futura Display, with a customized N

Moon Target (Splash Down, Magnet Target) ft.
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Buro Destruct and tagged with “data70”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Moon Target (Splash Down, Magnet Target) ft. Data 70

Space Invasion (Pocket Vader, Space Invader) ft.  and some unidentified -like substance
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Buro Destruct and tagged with “filmotypequiet”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Space Invasion (Pocket Vader, Space Invader) ft. Filmotype Quiet and some unidentified Helvetica-like substance

Marbel Catch (Secret Passage, Drop ’n’ Catch) ft. a customized
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Buro Destruct and tagged with “pump”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Marbel Catch (Secret Passage, Drop ’n’ Catch) ft. a customized Pump

Election (Time Machine) ft.
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Buro Destruct and tagged with “data70”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Election (Time Machine) ft. Data 70

Golf Game ft. outlined  with a custom M and a mirrored A
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Buro Destruct and tagged with “pretorian”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Golf Game ft. outlined Pretorian with a custom M and a mirrored A

Dice Up ft.
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Buro Destruct and tagged with “davida”. License: CC BY-NC-SA.

Dice Up ft. Davida

Target Game (Target Range) ft. chromatic . The numerals are from an unidentified source.
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Buro Destruct and tagged with “profil” and “futura”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Target Game (Target Range) ft. chromatic Profil. The numerals are from an unidentified source.

Frog Fight ft. all-caps  and an unidentified Japanese typeface
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Buro Destruct and tagged with “flash”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Frog Fight ft. all-caps Flash and an unidentified Japanese typeface

Hamburger Catch (Burger Catch) ft. numerals from . The title is lettering.
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Buro Destruct and tagged with “brushscript”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Hamburger Catch (Burger Catch) ft. numerals from Brush Script. The title is lettering.

Typefaces

  • Marvin (Face)
  • Grotesque No. 9
  • Data 70
  • Yagi Link Double
  • Microgramma
  • Futura Display
  • Filmotype Quiet
  • Pump
  • Pretorian
  • Davida
  • Profil
  • Flash
  • Brush Script
  • ITC Avant Garde Gothic
  • Futura
  • unidentified typeface

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